Shovrim Shtika - Breaking the Silence (http://www.shovrimshtika.org/index_e.asp) is an organization of former soldiers who served in the occupied territories during their military service, who speak out against the various ongoings in the territories. They are made up of soldiers from the 50th Nachal/Brigade, people who served in Hevron mostly, approximately 700-800 members/former soldiers.
Our speaker was Ayal, 28; he was a combatant and sergeant, combatant again, finished the army, did his BA, is doing his MA now, and finally after 7 years he broke the silence which was about a year and a half ago. Along with his fellow former soldiers, he is trying to bridge the gap between what the audience "knows" about the west bank...and reality. Where is the green line? What is a military law? Where is area a, area b, area c? There is a great misperception within Israeli society about the West Bank and the cities within it. Below are some of his comments and my thoughts, to help me process this "new" and "other" and "different" side to what I have heard about Hevron. It's not the first time I'm exposed to more "leftist" ideas in Israel, but so far, it has not been very often.
Road 60, the main road in the West Bank, was closed to Palestinians until 2006, and many Israelis didn't know this. That's one of his examples of Israeli society not really knowing or seeing the full situation. They know the security rationale and narrative, of the Israelis, but not the Palestinians. The army poses a moral question - what's our line? What's our limit? Israeli society sends them (the soldiers) there without them even knowing what they are "getting themselves into," which is quite scary.
The Israeli military is controlling 2.5 million ppl in West Bank, doing what Israeli society tells them to do, in order to bring soldiers safely back home at the completion of service time. Hevron is the 2nd largest city in West Bank, after Ramallah. There are 160,000-180,000 Palestinians, and 700-1,000 Israelis, with 1,500 Israeli security forces. What is the purpose of the military presence....protecting the settlers? Protecting Israel? Hunting for terrorists? Perhaps it's not such a simple answer; it is multi layered.
The only group that they have no criticism towards...is the settlers. The soldiers in Shovrim Shtika believe that the settlers are following the ideological movement.
Extreme news (like murders, rapes, etc.) reaches the masses and the public, but not the daily typical stuff, common happenings.
In the 1970s, the Dayan plan -was to put "fists inside cities." The Alon plan was 2 security "stripes" outside main areas of the West Bank. Hevron was not in Oslo Bet, which took place in 1995 because there is a settlement inside the city - so what to do with it? For years and years, the planning of use of this area has been a huge mess! What an understatement!
I have said it before and I will say it again. I think that "the few" have and still are ruining it for "the many" - terrorists ruining it for citizens/civilians. The second intifada in particular created a society where you can't trust anyone - everyone is a potential threat. This is one of the reasons why history has happened the way it did.
The question/gray area/line of what is moral and what is for the purpose of safety/security?
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